Tuesday, August 16, 2016

"A port of the Braids Firmware to the Equation Composer, by Mathieu Routhier

Inspired by VIznut's 'Algorithmic symphonies from one line of code' and the BitWiz Audio Synth, the Equation Composer creates a wide range of gritty, 8-bit sounding melodies, waveforms, and noise. The module is organized into CV selectable 'programs', where each program can act like a unique synthesizer.

Internally, the Equation Composer is based on the powerful Arduino Due. Although the module has been built to be enjoyed 'as-is', there's a prominent USB jack on the front for updating the firmware and the software is open source. 14 extra pins have been brought to an expansion header on the rear. The Arduno code itself is modular, allowing various software 'modules' to be strung together into 'programs' that act like individual synths. (Re-programming is recommended for advanced developers and requires some C++.)"

This type of discussion comes up every now and then. You did DIY something and have spent $8-10 bucks on it. Good, we've all done that. But how much time did you invest in it? Was it something you could have released as a commercial product? How much time did you spend trying to make sure the circuit was running smoothly in as many scenarios as possible? How much time did you spend on beta testing, bugfixing, pushing the software to see if it would crash?How much time did you spend checking components, designing the interface, the frontplate? How many prototypes had you made? How much advance cash did you invest in getting parts ordered, modules manufactured? And this is just the tip of the iceberg... I'll spare you the complete list.

So yes, maybe you can hack something together for $10 but if you want to make something that can be sold as a commercial product, you'll end up having to invest way more than that. And in the end you also have to live from it, you need to earn some money out of it, because that will pay your rent and let you carry on making more modules.